Prokopyevsk Care Home's Errors Lead to Flu Outbreak

For nearly a week, discussions have swirled around the psychoneurological care home in Prokopyevsk after a mass flu outbreak among residents. As usual, various authorities have stepped in to control the situation, launching inspections, but no official cause has been given for the outbreak.

Meanwhile, staff from the facility have reached out to our newsroom for help. They say the incident was no accident, but the inevitable result of years of subjecting residents to rotten food, freezing temperatures, and neglect. At the request of the personnel, NGS42.RU is publishing this detailed account of conditions behind closed walls on Wednesday, January 28.

Several months ago, the Prokopyevsk internat for the mentally ill already appeared in news reports. It became known nationwide that helpless residents were being fed spoiled semi-finished products, meat, and vegetables. Photographs of disgusting rations were sent to us by the staff themselves—they said they were forced to issue meals in such condition, which they had grown tired of.

After the flu outbreak, which sent more than 50 residents to the hospital, workers contacted our editorial office again. The staff asked for help—to publish their revelations about working in an institution where, they claim, the mentally ill are systematically tormented.

“There Was No Nightmare Before”

According to employees, the scandal with food in September did force law enforcement and inspectors to visit the institution. Violations were, of course, found. But as soon as the inspectors left, residents were again fed rotten food.

And by mid-November, residents began to be knocked down by an unknown «infection.» The outbreak, as the staff says, the internat management decided to hide, and no quarantine was introduced.

“Their temperature shot up suddenly. They came to the medical post, said they had severe headaches, some had coughs, runny noses. The nurse said she didn«t know what was happening, but they were forbidden to give out fever reducers. No one took them to hospitals, they were waiting for something,” recalls Marina (name changed at the employee»s request, who fears dismissal. — Ed.).

On New Year«s Eve and during the January holidays, according to the worker, the sick got really bad. But most were hospitalized only after everything spilled over into social media. Law enforcement and inspectors from the Ministry of Social Protection, Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being), and the Ministry of Health immediately arrived at the care home.

Marina and her colleagues wanted to tell the inspectors about the November events, but director Elena Morozova allegedly did not let them.

“You see, no one wants to hear us. They«ve been looking for the cause for so many days, and no one has approached us, the staff, to talk. I»ve been working at the internat for about 10 years, before that my relative worked here, but there was never such a nightmare,” admits Marina.

In the opinion of the Prokopyevsk resident, the virus was most likely brought into the institution by one of the residents who was taken for an examination to the city hospital back in November. And the infection spread so quickly and easily due to the weak health of the residents. Moreover, Marina assures: it«s not chronic mental illnesses or age to blame, but the immunity that was systematically killed over the last year. In fact, people were almost not treated for three months.

According to workers, the mentally ill are still systematically fed rotting food, frozen in living buildings, and not treated for colds. Overall, there are also such employees who treat the mentally ill old women and men as soon-to-be guests of the morgue.

“In many buildings, especially downstairs, the cold is incredible. Everyone complained, and the worst is in the fourth building, where bedridden patients are, imagine how it is for them. They changed our radiators, but it didn«t help. Now, of course, before the inspectors arrived, they turned everything up full, closed the windows,” notes Marina.

On top of that, staff who genuinely empathize with patients are allegedly planning to have their salaries cut. According to Marina, some have already had their number of shifts reduced, redistributing the workload to one person, others have been threatened with removal of additional payments.

“They explained to us that the institution simply has nothing to pay salaries with. The bureau said: «There is no money in the budget for you,»” stated the Prokopyevsk residents.

Missed Tuberculosis

Another employee, Anna (name changed at the heroine«s request, who fears dismissal. — Ed.), also confirmed that rules are systematically violated in the institution. For example, due to the lack of necessary equipment, kitchen workers are forced to grind meat, fish, vegetables, and ready-made food for bedridden patients in one meat grinder.

In the medical post of the care home, there are no basic medicines, and no one pays attention to residents« complaints. It reached the point where in spring 2025, the institution did not immediately learn that two residents had developed an open form of tuberculosis. But the director even managed to hide this from higher management.

“We would like to show that there are no conditions. But we can«t even talk to the inspectors. We are as if ignored,” complains Anna.

According to the publication«s interlocutors, after the staff tried to break through to talk to specialists from the Ministry of Health and Rospotrebnadzor, suspensions from work began. Some were even hinted at dismissals if they tried to change anything, but workers are tired of the management»s negligent attitude to real problems.

Journalists learned about the outbreak of illness in the psychoneurological internat several days ago. The authorities of Kuzbass after several hours reported that all people hospitalized with flu were asymptomatic. Meanwhile, according to latest data, at least one of the residents is in serious condition.

The Ministry of Social Protection stated that mass vaccination was carried out in the institution shortly before the outbreak, and no obvious violations in the center, including with nutrition, were found.